More Patients Claim Sexual Abuse by Suspended Chiropractor

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More people have come forward saying they are victims of a north suburban chiropractor already charged with sexually abusing a patient during a session and suspended by the state, the News-Sun is reporting.

Lake County Asst. State’s Attorney Fred Day said that in addition to the initial victim, from Lake Forest, two other patients are claiming sexual abuse at the hands of Kevin Dutton, 38, of the 800 block of North Rockwell in Chicago.

Day said any other patients who believe they were victims of inappropriate contact are being asked to contact either Highland Park police or the state’s attorney’s office.

Dutton has been charged with one count of criminal sexual assault and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse in the case involving the first patient. The additional allegations are under investigation, Day said.

The charges involving the first patient, a 23-year-old woman, are related to a chiropractic session last month.

The woman reported to Highland Park police June 12 that Dutton had engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct during a treatment at the Wellness Circle at 806 Central Ave. in Highland Park, where he worked as an independent chiropractor.

Following a week-long police investigation, the state’s attorney’s office approved charges. Dutton turned himself in June 19 after police obtained a warrant for his arrest. He was released after posting 10 percent of a $100,000 bond.

On June 24, Jay Stewart, director of the Division of Professional Regulation for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, ordered Dutton’s chiropractic license be suspended because his actions “constitute an immediate danger to the public.”

In the petition for suspension, Laura Forester, the agency’s chief of medical prosecutions, said Dutton lifted the patient’s underwear, slid his hand under her underwear and digitally penetrated her vagina.

According to the petition, Dutton admitted to Highland Park police that his fingers penetrated the patient’s vagina during treatment.

Dutton, who has held a chiropractor’s license in Illinois since 2005, had not previously been disciplined, according to state records.

Susan Hofer, IDFPR spokesperson, said that because of the nature of the allegations, the state suspended Dutton’s license rather than put a chaperone order in place for the duration of the criminal proceedings. Conviction on either charge would trigger an automatic and permanent revocation of his license.

On Thursday, conditions of Dutton’s bond were revised by Judge George Strickland to include no contact with the first alleged victim, and his defense attorney agreed he would also have no contact with the other two patients who made allegations.

Police ask anyone with information about the case to contact the Highland Park police at 847-432-7730.